Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor Book Launch

About the Book

On a sweltering day in a small country town twelve-year-old Esther Bianchi disappears on her way home from school. A no-nonsense cop must put her ex-girlfriend out of mind and do everything she can to find the missing girl. Esther leaves people behind – a best friend who idolises her, a mother reeling from betrayal, a young boy who saw something, who doesn’t even have words for what he is afraid of. And then there is the town itself: a chorus of children; impossible, all-seeing. The voice of a poor and dying place. Character-rich and propulsive, with a breathtakingly original use of voice and revolving points of view, Hayley Scrivenor delves under the surface, where no one can hide. With emotional depth and sensitivity, this stunning debut shows us how much each person matters in a community that is at once falling apart and coming together.

About Hayley

Hayley Scrivenor is a former Director of Wollongong Writers Festival. Originally from a small country town, Hayley now lives and writes on Dharawal country and has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wollongong on the south coast of New South Wales. Dirt Town is her first novel. An earlier version of the book was shortlisted for the Penguin Literary Prize and won The Kill Your Darlings Unpublished Manuscript Award.

About Samuel

Samuel Elliott is a Sydney-based writer and interviewer. He is the founder and host of The Write Way podcast. All episodes of the program are available on Spotify.